FROM THIS EPISODE

For the first time in their 45 years of existence, the Los Angeles Kings have one of the sports world's most coveted trophies: the Stanley Cup, signifying the championship of professional hockey. We hear how the very unlikely actually took place and what might happen next at Staples Center and beyond. Also, the Orange County Register has had the same ownership since 1935, but a sale is expected to close in the next 30 days. It's part of the growing chaos in Southern California journalism. On our rebroadcast of today's To the Point, the suicide epidemic in America's armed forces.

Banner image: The Los Angeles Kings pose for a team shot with the Stanley Cup after defeating the New Jersey Devils 6-1 to win the Stanley Cup series 4-2 in Game Six of the 2012 Stanley Cup Final at Staples Center on June 11, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Suicides among America's active soldiers and veterans are outpacing combat casualties -- and the numbers are increasing — even as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are winding down. Last week, the Associated Press reported some daunting statistics: 154 suicides in 155 days among American troops on active duty. The Department of Veterans Affairs says veterans are killing themselves at an average rate of 18 a day. The total deaths from suicide far exceed combat casualties in the past ten years of war. We hear how family survivors, the Pentagon and others are searching for answers.

"No one saw this coming. Not this way, certainly." Those are the first lines in Helene Elliott's account of the Los Angeles Kings' triumphant seizure of the Stanley Cup last night at Staples Center. She writes about hockey for the LA Times. We speak with her and with Kings radio commentator and former Kings player, Daryl Evans.

The Orange County Register has been the flagship of Freedom Communications since 1935. But the sale of that paper and six others along with related properties is expected to close in about 30 days. Ken Doctor is a news industry analyst for Outsell and the author of Newsonomics: Twelve New Trends That Will Shape the News You Get.